"You see, this is Sister Tsunade's current fusion progress," Misaki said, showing a petri dish that displayed signs of coalescing flesh and blood.
"This is Orochimaru Sensei's own fusion progress," she added, opening another petri dish while glancing toward the room where Orochimaru was working.
In Orochimaru's dish, the initial fusion of cells was barely visible, let alone any embryonic form of flesh and blood. It was clear that Orochimaru's cell fusion experiment lagged far behind Tsunade's. If Orochimaru wanted to successfully fuse Hashirama's Cells, he would have to wait for Tsunade to progress further.
"Is it because Sensei's wife is related to the First Hokage by blood?" Nagato asked, a straightforward question.
Misaki, however, burst out laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" Nagato asked, confused. He hadn't said anything funny.
"Orochimaru Sensei thinks the same way," Misaki explained, unable to stop laughing as she recalled Orochimaru's envious expression.
They are indeed related, and that bloodline connection gave Tsunade a natural advantage. Orochimaru could only envy her.
"Haha," Nagato laughed out loud, imagining Orochimaru's resentful face.
"Shh, don't let Orochimaru Sensei hear!" Misaki whispered, signaling Nagato to lower his voice.
"Mm-hmm, I know," Nagato said, quickly stifling his laughter. The two of them put the petri dishes back in their places.
"Did you really think I couldn't hear?" Orochimaru's voice suddenly came from the room, followed by a soft chuckle. He shook his head, knowing they would soon understand the consequences of mocking their elders.
Nagato and Misaki, oblivious to what was coming, continued chatting in the lab, their energy growing as the conversation became more animated.
Time passed, and Orochimaru eventually emerged from the room, his work complete. Pretending not to care, he began assigning them tasks.
For the rest of the day, Nagato and Misaki were worked relentlessly, as if they were spinning tops. By the time they left the hospital and said goodbye to Orochimaru, they were so exhausted they could barely stand straight.
They had a pretty good idea why.
"We have to be more careful in the future," Misaki said with a bitter smile. She knew this was all her fault.
"A lesson learned," Nagato replied, agreeing with her. The two exchanged a glance before going their separate ways.
For the rest of his vacation, Nagato showed up at the lab on time every day. Eventually, he pinpointed which part of the cornea was responsible for what he wanted to achieve before returning to the Anbu.
"I found it!" Nagato shouted excitedly in the lab.
"Hard work pays off. Well done," Orochimaru said calmly. "Tomorrow, I'll have the hospital recruit some nearsighted patients."
This would be the next step. Curing a few nearsighted people would mark the completion of this research. While it wasn't a major project, it had been a valuable learning experience for both Nagato and Misaki. Orochimaru had stayed hands-off throughout the process, letting them handle everything independently.
"Thank you, Lord Orochimaru," Nagato said.
The hospital's recruitment of patients was also a chance for Nagato to practice his skills. Even in the event of failure, the eye-swapping technique could be used as a backup, ensuring no risk of medical accidents. This allowed Nagato to proceed confidently with the surgeries.
"Don't forget to call me when the time comes," Misaki said, genuinely happy for Nagato.
"Of course. You played a big part in this," Nagato replied readily. If it weren't for Misaki, he wouldn't have made such quick progress.
"I'm glad you know," Misaki said with a pleased, playful tone.
"I'll leave for today. I have to return to Anbu tomorrow, but I'll take leave again once the patients are ready," Nagato said as he packed up to leave.
"Okay, you can go back," Orochimaru said, waving casually.
"See you," Nagato said before leaving, his face full of joy.
If he hadn't been so overwhelmed by his excitement, he might already have run downstairs to Nonō's apartment, shouting her name.
That day, Konoha Hospital began accepting patients with myopia.
The hospital, established by Lady Hokage, still held significant credibility in the village. Even for a surgery no one had heard of before, many villagers suffering from myopia came seeking treatment. Without exception, they registered first and then returned home to wait for news.
As soon as Nagato returned to the Anbu, Sakumo immediately assigned him a mission. True to his word, Sakumo left Nawaki's team behind and paired Minato's team with Nonō and the others.
The Minato team understood what was happening and often gave Nagato strange looks during the mission. Whenever Nagato was with Nonō, both of them avoided eye contact, embarrassed as if the situation had been arranged on purpose to give them time together.
Fortunately, the mission wasn't difficult, and both teams had worked together before. They completed the task without any issues and returned to the village.
Afterwards, Nagato took some time off to go to the hospital for the operation. Up until now, he hadn't told Nonō a single word about it. He was the type to keep things to himself.
...
"How is it?" Nagato asked eagerly as soon as the gauze was removed from the patient's eyes.
"I can see the painting on the wall again. I can also see the signature!"
The patient, a woman in her forties and Nagato's first case, tried hard to open her eyes wide as though it would help her see even more clearly.
"Look again, but this time at the window," Misaki said, standing next to Nagato. A few nurses were also present in the room.
"Okay."
The woman turned her head to look out the window.
"I can really see it now. Before, everything was blurry," she said, unable to hide her happiness.
"That's good. Remember to rest when you go home," Nagato said, keeping a neutral expression, though inwardly, he was overjoyed. He had fulfilled the promise he made to Nonō. Next, he could perform the surgery on her.
"Okay, thank you," the woman said excitedly, shaking Nagato's hand.
"No need, it's the least I can do," Nagato replied. "I still have other patients to operate on, so I won't stay long."
He gently pulled his hand away and gave Misaki a subtle wink.
"We'll go first. If you're in a hurry, you can check out right away," Misaki told the woman before exchanging a few polite words and following Nagato out.
"When are you going to tell Nonō?" Misaki asked. She understood the situation well and knew Nagato intended to surprise her.
"No rush. Let's finish today's surgeries first. I'll get more familiar with the process too," Nagato said, suppressing his urge to rush things. He wanted to gain more confidence by performing a few more surgeries.
"That's pretty mature," Misaki said with a smile, covering her mouth.
"Let's start the next one," Nagato said, brushing past the topic. He wasn't as accustomed to the hospital environment as Misaki; he was there purely to perform the surgeries.
"No problem. Go ahead and wait in the operating room," Misaki replied, heading off to arrange the next patient.
The entire day was spent in the operating room. Nagato and Misaki not only performed over a dozen myopia surgeries but also took on the responsibility of teaching the procedure.
It was clear the two couldn't remain at the hospital indefinitely to oversee the operations. Fortunately, the surgery itself wasn't particularly difficult—it simply required precision and care.
The Medical-nin assigned to the task quickly mastered the main points of the procedure. Even if Nagato and Misaki weren't present in the future, the hospital would be able to carry out the surgeries effectively.